Improvement in mechanical toys



2 Sheets--S heet 1`.

EDWARD E. NEWELL.

improvement in Mechanical-Toys. N0. 128,164, 5 Patent`ed1une18,1 872.

O HR j Witnesses v Inventor f@ Q. l Mgwy @gjm www EDWARD 5. NEwELL.Improvement in Mechanical-Toys.

Patented j uneia., 1872.

. Wfnesses.

UNITED ,STATES 'PATENT OEEICE.

EDWARD E. NEWELL, or RRrsToL, CONNECTICUT.

' IMPROVEMENT IN MECHANICAL TOYS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 128,164, dated June 18,1872.

The first part of my invention consists of the employment of a verticaland revolving shaft, in combination with a mechanical movement and itscarriage, as hereinafter described and, second, of the peculiarcombination of a brake and the propelling spring of said carriage, ashereafter described.

.In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a toywhich embodies my invention, a portion of the dress being removed inorder to better show the mechanism. Fig. 2 is a plan view of themovement part of the p said toy; and Fig. 3 is a detached view thereof,showing the brake.

A designates the frame of the movement; B, the propelling springattached to the main shaft a, and prevented from unwindin g by means ofa ratchet and click, in the usual manner of securing such springs. Cdesignates a shaft, to which a driving-Wheel, D, is firmly secured toone end, and a similar wheel, D', loosely secured to the opposite end ofsaid shaft. The shafts a and C are connected-by a train of wheels andpinions, for the purpose of communicating the power of the spring B tothe wheel D. At one side of the frame A is a vertical shaft, b, uponwhich is a supporting-disk, E, Fig. l, and a gear-wheel, F, which standsat right angles to and meshes into one of the wheels in the movementtrain, so that a revolving motion is imparted to the vertical shaft bwhenever the carriage travels. Gr designates a third wheel or roller forsupporting the frame A and its mechanism upon the iioor or other plane.I also provide a circular skeleton frame, H, made of wire-cloth or lightmaterial, and large 'enough to allow the movement to revolve around theshaft b Without striking the frame H. This frame Iplace upon thevertical shaft b, where it is supported by the supporting-disk E, asshown in Fig. l. I then take one or more toy figures or images,preferably that of a lady and gentleman, neatly fastened together, andsecure the back of the lady to a sleeve, I, Fig. l, by which sleeve Ithe figures are rmly secured to the shaft b. It is designed to dress thegures so that the dress shall conceal the fastening-sleeve I andskeleton-frame H, as indicated in Fig. 1.

One or more holes are made in the side of the frame H, through which toinsert the key for winding the spring. By Winding the propelling-springB, and placing the toy upon the floor or other plane, the driving-wheelD causes the carriage to traverse the plane, and, by setting the wheel Gobliquely to the frame A, will travel in a circle, when the verticalrevolving shaft b causes the figures to swing around each other as theymove from point to point, something after the manner of waltzing.' Inorder to make the movement run a long time, and with more uniformity,without increasing the number of Wheels in a train, I attach the brakec, which consists of a strip of leather Wound around the driving-wheelshaft C, with one end attached to the shaft d connected to the frame A.To the opposite end of the leather brake c I secure a strip of rubber,f, or other light spring, and secure the rubber to the mainspring B, asshown. When the spring Bis run down,7 as shown in Figs. l and 2, andindicated by the broken circle in Fig. 3, the point at which therubber-brake spring fjoins the mainspring B is near the shaft C; butwhen the spring is Wound up, as indicated in Fig. 3, the saidconnecting-point travels with the spring B to a distance more remotefrom the shaft C, a-nd consequently the brake is applied to the shaft Cwith the greatest amount of friction when the movement is most -inclinedto run at the greatest speed, and as the mainsprin g gradually unwindsthe brake c is also gradually slackened, removing its friction from theshaft C, whereby the carriage moves with greater uniformity of speedthan is possible for a mqvement to do without this device or a muchlonger train. The shaft d stands at right angles to the shaft C, andturns in the frame A. One end is provided with a thumb-handle, and oneend of the brake c is attached to its other end, as shown. When it isdesired to vary the power or friction of the brake c, it can be done byturning the shaft d and winding more or less of the brake around it. AItis 4desirable to adjust the brake when the toy is run in differentplaces, as without such adjustment the toy will travel faster upon barefloor than it will upon a carpeted one. If desired, a lever andshoe-brake might ating together to move a gure or figures around theaxis of the shaft b, and at the same time carry the Whole device over aiioor or similar plane, substantially as herein shown and described.

2. The combination of the driving-Wheel shaft C, friction-brake c, andmainspring B, operating together substantially as and for the purposeherein described.

EDWARD E. NEWELL.

Witnesses:

MILES L. PEoK, J AMES SHEPARD.

